From Samuel L Jackson gleefully biting into a ‘tasty burger’ in Pulp Fiction to violent hitman prioritising the cannoli over the gun in The Godfather, the best movies don’t shy away from taking a bite or two in the middle of the drama.
And while delightful cosy food flicks like Julie & Julia and Ratatouille take the action fully inside the kitchen, there are some films that play around with food in some interesting concepts. Food doesn’t just adorn plates in these films but it also sears into strong visual motifs, thematic anchors, and character traits.
This November, London’s cinephiles and foodies can unite for a MUBI screening event at The Cinema at Selfridges, celebrating foodie films at a new pop-up fest called ‘Let’s Eat! Food and Film’.
Whether it’s the lunchboxes from Mumbai, fried batter cakes on makeshift pans from the 1820s, or some err… human flesh, the all-day mini-fest has you covered. There’ll be free pizza and cocktails as well.
When is the MUBI and Selfridges pop-up happening?
Billed as a ‘celebration of cinema’s most delicious stories’, the event starts from 2pm and goes on until late evening on November 20.
Which movies will be screening?
Here’s a list for all the screenings:
- Big Night (1996), Screen 1 at 3pm
- The Lunchbox (2013), Screen 2 at 3.20pm
- First Cow (2020), Screen 3 at 3.15pm
- Phantom Thread (2017), Screen 1 at 6pm
- Babette’s Feast (1987), Screen 2 at 6.15pm
- The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Screen 1 at 9.15
- Raw (2016), Screen 2 at 9.20pm
We kick off the afternoon with actor and Bourdain-ian traveller-foodie Stanley Tucci’s kitchen comedy Big Night. Tucci is the stressed-out owner of a new Italian joint in 1950s Jersey Shore, while Tony Shalhoub is his purist chef brother standing up for the cooking of their homeland in the face of Ian Holm’s pastiche Italian joint up the road. The Bear fans will have a particular soft spot for this one.
Indian arthouse aficionados can also feast on The Lunchbox, Ritesh Batra’s BAFTA-nominated debut that starred the late Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur as two pen pals who accidentally cross each other’s paths over a mistaken lunchbox delivery. Through loving letters and warm food, the film doubles as an expansive exploration of urban loneliness in an ever-busting metropolis like Mumbai. At least, the food keeps the average 9-to-5 employee sane over here.
If you are a recent Kelly Reichardt convert (courtesy of The Mastermind, in cinemas right now), First Cow might also strike your fancy. John Magaro plays a drifting wanderer with an affinity for frying up what he calls ‘oilcakes’, fried dough pastries that could have racked up serious TikTok numbers if our hero wasn’t an 1820s drifter.
Phantom Thread is a Paul Thomas Anderson gem with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a narcissistic, obsessive dressmaker orchestrating a toxic romance. Awkward dinners with a side of metaphors follow but it’s all so gloriously filmed that even the asparagus and ‘poisonous’ mushrooms would keep you salivating.
As MUBI is organising this event, linguistic diversity is on the menu, Babette’s Feast being a great Danish delight. Gabriel Axel’s Oscar-winning period drama follows a cook fleeing France and becoming a housekeeper in 19th century Denmark. But when our cook wins a lottery, her employers (and the audience) are in for a fancy feast.
Peter Greenway’s cult favourite The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is set almost entirely in a French restaurant, but instead of focusing on a perfectionist chef, our hero is a disgruntled gangster with an adulterous wife, her lover, a cook and a thief. It’s a dish with many layers.
It wraps with a fairly punchy choice in Julia Docaurnau’s striking cannibalism drama Raw. The body horror revolves around a vegetarian vet who harbours an insatiable appetite for all sorts of meats, from rabbit to human. Erm, yum?
What food is up for grabs?
Free pizza is up for grabs for 2.30pm for ticket holders, with Campari providing free cocktails. But if you’re willing to spend a little, chef and culinary artist Nil Mutluer will also be serving up a curated menu throughout the evening.
What else is going on?
Look out for talks and a food-and-film quiz, too.
Where can I book my tickets?
The tickets for all the screenings can be found here. Tickets start at £10, with student tickets £6.
Read more on: The 52 best food-on-film moments of all time.